Location

Opinion | Good costs, bad costs

New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- India's auto sector continues to remind us of the painful economic slowdown that India is undergoing. In August, sales of passenger cars slumped 41% year-on-year, with market leader Maruti Suzuki India Ltd registering a 36% decline. Sales of Alto, the company's entry-level hatchback, have halved. According to news reports, Maruti Chairman R.C. Bhargava has apportioned some of the blame on a crisis of car affordability, or lack thereof. Extra costs borne on account of stricter safety and emission norms, in his view, have pushed cars out of the reach of people who may otherwise have been able to buy them. While he has also mentioned other factors that have held sales back, including higher road tax in some states and ...